Page Updated: 24/06/99
Jill McGown
Jill McGown
Plots and ErrorsPlots and Errors New02 Jul 99
Picture Of InnocencePicture Of Innocence Newpbk 02 Jul 99
Verdict UnsafeVerdict Unsafe
The Murders of Mrs Austin & Mrs BealeThe Murders of Mrs Austin & Mrs Beale
Death of a DancerDeath of a Dancer
About the Author (Photo by John Roan, Northampton)
Bibliography


New First British Edition Macmillan (1999)
Plots and Errors
A Tragedy in five Acts
'I shot someone dead.' He watched for her reaction. But there was more than just surprise in those dark blue eyes. There was something very like respect. 'I got out just over eight years ago.
'What was it like?'
'Prison?"
She shook her head, smiling slightly. 'No. Killing someone,' she said.
 When Andrew Cope and his ex-policewoman wife Kathy, proprietors of an unsuccessful detective agency, up to their necks in debt and on the verge of losing their home, are found dead in their fume-filled car, there are few who doubt that they have simply taken the easy way out.
But Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd knew Kathy Cope, and doesn't believe she was a quitter. Besides, where did she get all the state-of-the-art office equipment? Why was her shopping put away in all the wrong places? Even her last case is a puzzle. Just why would a member of the super-wealthy Esterbrook family have employed her?
When DI Judy Hill is called out to the murder of matriarch Angela Esterbrook, Lloyd's doubts appear to be vindicated; and the Copes' apparent suicide turns out to be just the curtain-raiser on a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions ...
The fourteenth novel in Jill McGown's popular Lloyd and Hill series.
'McGown teases to the absolute, agonizing limit' Sunday Times
Critical acclaim for Jill McGown
A Shred of Evidence
'Superior mystery fiction... Lloyd and Hill at the top of their form.' Publishers Weekly
'This tightly plotted story will keep you guessing until the very last page' Woman's Weekly
Murder Now and Then
'Lavish with cumulative clues and revelations, McGown teases to the absolute, agonizing limit as murders ancient and modern are resolved' Sunday Times
'A highly enjoyable who done what, when and why' Spectator
The Other Woman
'McGown, as usual, delivers superior crafting, careful plotting and unexpected turns' Marcel Berlins, The Times
Redemption
'Impeccable plotting, alibi- and clue-weaving - an accomplished story that touches the heart' Felicia Lamb, Mail on Sunday
'With Redemption Jill McGown has definitely ensured promotion to the first division' Times Literary Supplement
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New Paperback - Pan (1999)
Picture Of Innocence
See Review by Andrew Taylor - author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series
'Telling him that she might be pregnant had been a desperate measure that at least called a halt to the violence while she worked out where to go from here. And there was only one way that she could see…'
More than half of Bartonshire, it seemed, had entertained murderous thoughts at some time or another about bullying farmer Bernard Bailey. Which might have explained why his property was protected by more security devices than Fort Knox.
All, sadly, to no avail.
After six months of highly publicised death threats, Bernard's bloodied corpse is discovered in his isolated farmhouse launching DCI Lloyd and DI Judy Hill into the most unusual murder enquiry of their careers.
For as the evidence is sifted, the question for once isn't 'Who stood to gain from the death?' but 'Why didn't they do it sooner?'
'McGown has once again produced a classic English detective story and an entertaining read... she can be relied on to produce a first-rate puzzle' Sunday Telegraph
'McGown's latest Lloyd and Hill mystery possesses a wealth of psychological nuance and narrative depth… a masterpiece of controlled complexity' Publishers Weekly
'It's a treat to come across a really good, traditional British murder mystery with almost as many suspects as there are fish in a herring shoal... You will enjoy finding out in this skilful and highly professional whodunnit' Western Morning News
'A superior female crime writer on top form.' Peterborough Evening Telegraph
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Paperback - Pan (1998)
Verdict Unsafe
See Review by Val McDermid - Gold Dagger winner & creator of Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan & Tony Hill
'He'd waited for her outside her flat that night, but Lloyd had come home with her, and he'd had to let it go. But he'd get her. One day. He'd get her.'
Four young women. Four horrific rapes. Committed, it is claimed, by Colin Arthur Drummond, a privileged young man forn Malworth. Certainly Detective-Inspector Judy Hill will never forget his chilling description of a fifth unreported rape - or his threat that she was to be his sixth.
The prosecution has an open-and-shut case against him - or do they? For very soon, Drummond is threatening Judy again. As she sets out to prove his guile for a second time -· and save her own job - Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd is called to a horrifying scene.
It appears Colin Drummond has picked his next victim …
'A cleverly drawn-out mystery, with plenty of suspects. Sunday Telegraph
'With serpentine suspense, McGown weaves a net around her suspects ... Thought-provoking, solidly plotted story-telling.' Val Mcdermid, Manchester Evening News
'Verdict Unsafe confirms Jill McCown's arrival as a heavyweight crime fiction contender. Peterborough Evening Telegraph
'With serpentine suspense, McGown weaves a net around her suspects... Thought-provoking, solidly plotted story-telling.' Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News
'Verdict Unsafe confirms Jill McGown's arrival as a heavyweight crime fiction contender' Peterborough Evening Telegraph
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Paperback - Pan (1997)
The Murders of Mrs Austin & Mrs Beale
The fourth novel in Jill McGown's critically acclaimed Lloyd and Hill series.
Which one is the odd one out? A struggling artist married to the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative party in Stansfield, an ex-call girl married to a wealthy and never convicted crook, or the telephone line which links them?
Answer: The telephone line. It is isn't dead
Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and newly promoted Detective Inspector Judy Hill no longer work together. But murder is no respecter of police divisions, and the live telephone linking the murdered women brings them together again. Which is just one complication, as far as Lloyd is concerned. Another is that Mrs Austin was a friend of Judy's, whose angry and blinkered reaction to her murder is less than professional. On top of that, he is having to break in a new detective sergeant, and come to terms with the possibility of Judy's further promotion.
But the murders of Mrs Austin and Mrs Beale still have to be solved, and somewhere amongst the innumerable theories the truth is there to be found. Which is the ultimate complication. Because this time, Lloyd has to find it without Judy's help.
Besides, she's quite certain that she already knows …
'A cleverly twisting plot with a startling surprise ending.' Times
'Satisfying, tightly knit whodunit with exophthalmic final twist.' Guardian
'Jill McGown is a crisp writer and a spellbinding storyteller.' Financial Times
'Careful plotting, strong characters and solid detection are the traditional virtues of Jill McGown's stories' Scotland on Sunday
'All the essential ingredients of the best whodunnits.' The Mail
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Paperback - Pan (1998)
Death of a Dancer
'Matthew watched with dismay the comings and goings of the police.. He could tell them he had been too scared to come forward. Too scared, by what he knew ... '
It was her husband who found her, almost falling over the body in the darkness of the school playing field on a cold, wet St Valentine's night.
The deputy headmaster's wife had been murdered. At the run-down private boarding school, Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant Judy Hill find a multitude of suspects. What they can't find is the murder weapon.
But then it went missing two months before the murder took place ... didn't it?
'A skilful, rounded novel… a classic whodunnit which runs easily alongside slow-burning romance to a moving finale' Mail on Sunday
'Assured, tight plot, with a shivery undercurrent of sexual frustration and lost ambitions… Thoroughly readable' The Times
'Jill McGown crafts a splendid story… Excellent' The Citizen
'Jill McGown is a crisp writer and a spellbinding storyteller.' Financial Times
'McGown delivers superior crafting, careful plotting and unexpected turns.' Marcel Berlins, The Times
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About The Author
Jill McGown was born in Argyll in 1947, but has lived in Corby since she was ten. After working in a solicitor's office she joined the British Steel Corporation and during this time wrote the occasional short story. On being made redundant she took up writing full-time and in 1983 published her first novel, A Perfect Match.

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Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

  • Plots and Errors (Macmillan, 1999) New Jul 99 ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • Picture Of Innocence (Macmillan, 1998) New Pan Pbk Jul 99 ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • Verdict Unsafe (Macmillan, 1997) Pan Pbk Feb 98 ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • The Murders of Mrs Austin & Mrs Beale (Macmillan, 1991) Pan Pbk Nov 97 ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • Death of a Dancer (Macmillan, 1989) Pan Pbk Jul 98 ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • A Perfect Match ( 1983) ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • An Evil Hour
  • Murder Movie
  • Record of Sin
  • The Stalking Horse
  • A Shred of Evidence (Macmillan) ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • Murder... Now and Then ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • Redemption ( Lloyd & Hill)
  • The Other Woman ( Lloyd & Hill)

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